Machine for making flexible tubular armor



Apr. 17, 1923. 1,452,356

' s. w. BOURN MACHINE FOR MAKING FLEXIBLE TUBULAR ARMOR Filed July 28 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1 @;7 Inventor Q Eephcn WBourn Apr. 17, 1923. 1,452,356

5. w. BOURN MACHINE FOR. MAKING FLEXIBLE TUBULAR ARMOR 8 Filed July 28 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q""IIII'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIL 'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!Ir w I J awue/wtoz fifcpben Wnarn Patented Apr. 11, 1923,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE.

STEPHEN W. BOUBN, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

MACHINE FOR MAKING FLEXIBLE TUBULAR LRMOR.

Application filed July 28, 1921. Serial No. 488,256,

for Making Flexible Tubular 'Armor, of-

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved machine for making armor tubing, more particularly to that type of tubing which is formed of a stri of metal wound or coiled helically into tu ular form with its edges overlapping .and interlocking, one with the other, rendering the tube, flexible and providing a protecting covering for a rope, cable or other core.

An object of the invention is to provide such a machine which is extremely simple and compact and inexpensive in construction and which can be operated economically with the minimum amount of attention, to form a uniform-product.

A further object of the invention is the provision of such a machine which can be operated upon a continuous strip of unlimited length, to groove the same and then wind or coil it into tubular form.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a plurality of pairs of cooperating rolls which are adapted to both feed and groove the strip progressively, that is, each pair of rolls is adapted to groove the strip more deeply or completely than the next preceding pair, the last pair completing the grooving or shaping operation and also serving to feed the strip into the coillng device.

The invention further consists in the provision of a guide plate having a substantially U-shaped end opening into which the previously grooved strip is fed endways, the guide serving to coil the stri into helical tubular form and the guide a so serving to impart to the strip a lateral lead so that its coil will be helical and its adjacent edges will interlock.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means for automatically stopping the machine if for any cause the strip fails to feed properly into the coiling device.

The nature and advantages of the invention will be better understood when the following detailed description is taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,

the invention residing in the combination and arrangement of parts as claimed. In the drawings forming part of this specilication, like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views and where- 1n Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved armor tube forming machine. Figure 2 is aside elevation of the machine, illustrating the plurality of sets of stripgrooving rolls.

Figure} is an edge view of my improved strip-coiling guide plate showing the ofl'set end for setting the helical lead into the strip.

Flgure iis a side elevation of this coiling guide plate, showin a portion broken away to illustrate the action of the electric automatlc stop.

Figure 5 is an end view showing the guide plate as coiling the strip into a helical tube with interlocking adjacent edges.

Flgure 6 is anedge view sectioned on line 66 of Figure 4, showing the sliding stop as insulated from the coilin contact extending through t e side of the plate to electrically engage the stop member to complete the circuit when moved to stop position.

Figure 7 is a plan view illustrating the general arrangement of the frames carrying the let-off and take-up rolls, the same being mounted to rotate in unison with each other and in time with the tube-forming machine.

Figure 8 is a front elevation of the mechanism illustrated in Figure 7.

Figure 9 is an enlarged elevation partly in section illustrating the tubular arrangement of the hearing at one end of the let-off reel.

Figure 10 is an enlarged view partially in section showing the tubular hearing at one end of the take-up reel frame through which the flexible armor tubing is led as formed, to be wound upon the take-up reel.

Figure 11 is a top view illustrating the winding of the strip into a helical tube directly upon a core to be covered.

Figure 12 is a modification showing the forming plate provided with an anti-friction strip-engaging and bending surface, with one of its side plates removed.

Figure 13, is an edge view of one of the grooved or flanged pulleys, showing the driving belt in section thereon.

With reference to the drawings, 15 designates the frame in which the several sets plate, and a of strip. feeding and grooving rolls are rotatably mounted, the lower row of rolls 16 being mounted on shafts 17 which extend through to the opposite side of the frame and are geared together by gears 18 all to run in unison, while the shafts 14 of the upper set of rolls 13 run idle except the last pair 12 which are geared together by gears 11.

I The strip 19 to be grooved and coiled is usually of metal and is fed in from the left end of the machine through the guide 20 and is progressively grooved, that is. the strip is grooved more and more deeply or completely as it is acted upon by each successive set of rolls.

A rotating motion is imparted to the lower set of feeding and grooving rolls which are driven from the main drive pulleys 21 through the gears 22 and 23, shaft 24 and bevel gears 25, one of which latter gears is mounted upon the roll shaft of one of the forward rolls 12.

In order to coil this grooved strip into helical tubular form, I have provided a fixed guide plate 26 which is adjustably mounted in the head 27 by bolts 28. The strip-receiving portion of this plate is preferably disposed in a vertical plane or at a right angle to the plane of the feeding strip 19 and is provided with a substantially U-shaped end opening 29, see Figure 4, into which the previously grooved strip is fed endways, the contact edge 30 of the lower arm 31 of this guide engages the under groove of the strip 19 to guide this strip into the rounded or curi ed guiding surface of the U-shaped opening in the circular former, the upper arm 32 thereof continues the bend ofthe strip into circular form and the free end of the arm 32 of this guide is offset laterally to impart a helical lead to the coiling strip whereby the adjacent grooved edges of this strip are caused to interlock one with the other.

By this construction the strip of metal 19 is coiled continuously directly upon the core or material to be covered as illustrated in Figure 11, without being obliged to first coil the strip upon a tubular arbor as is sometimes the case.

It has been found in practice advantageous to provide a stop mechanism whereby the action of the machine will be automatically arrested if for any cause the strip fails to feed accurately into the forming guide.

To accomplish this in a simple and effective way, I have mounted a sliding block 33 in the forming guide plate 26 at the bottom of the U-opening therein.

This block is properly insulated from the plate itself and is provided with an enlarged head 34 adapted to complete an electrical circuit upon engaging the pin 35 in the opening 36 upon being pressed forward,

to bend at the point 38 at the entering point of the former and when thus bent it fails to take the full curvature of the former, in which case the spring 37 will force the block 33 forward to complete a circuit through the wires 39 to actuate the solenoid 40 to throw out the clutch 41 on the shaft 24 and so automatically disconnect the driving mechanism and arrest the feeding action of the feed rolls.

I do not. however,' desire to be restricted to this particular construction of' stop mechanism as any other stop means for accomplishing this purpose may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. A

In practice this armor covering is formed about a cable 42 or continuous length of other material, and in order to wind up or reel the rotating armored tubing With its cable. as fast as formed I have provided a suitable mechanism, the following being one form by which this result may be accomplished:-

On the right of the tube-forming machine. I have provided a frame 43 which is provided at either end with bearings 44 and 45 in which this frame is rotatably mounted. In the bearing 45 is supported a tubing 46, one end 47 of which is secured to the fitting 48 in the frame 43 and on the outer end of this tubing is mounted a spur gear 49 and a bevel gear 50, the latter meshing with a complemental gear 51 through which a rotary motion is imparted to the frame from gears 52 and and shaft 54. In this frame 43 I have mounted a supply reel 55 which is rotatably mounted upon the shaft 56 and is provided with a pulley 57 which is engaged by a belt 58 which belt also engages a fixed pulley 59 on the end 60 of the frame 43, which latter pulley serves as a friction to prevent over running of the supply reel 55 when the cable 42 which is carried thereby, is being drawn therefrom.

This cable 42 leads from the drum 55 through the tube 46 in the bearing 45 and into the armor covering 63 as it is formed about the same at the point- 64.

On the left of the tube-forming mechanism I have mounted another frame 65 whose outer end is supported from the fixed bearing 66 on the fixed shaft 67 and whose inner end is supported in the bearing 68 on the tube 69. The outer end of this tube is threaded into the hollow fitting 70 into which the ends of the frame 65 are secured.

A take-up reel 71 is mounted on the shaft msaeae 72. which receives its end bearings in the ing surface on the reel due to the laying of frame (35, and this reel and shaft receive a rotating motion about its own axis by the engagement of the gear 7 3 on the frame, with the fixed gear '74: so that when the frame 65 is rotatedthe shaft and pulley 76 are caused to transmit a rotating motion through the belt 77 to pulley 78 and the shaft 72. This frame 65 is rotated in unison with the frame 43 and the rotation is transmitted to the frame 65 in time with the frame 43 through the pinion 79, shaft 80 and pinion 81. which latter meshes with the gear 82 fixed upon the tubing 69, see Figure 10, in other words, both the let-off or supply reel 55 and the take-up reel 71 are rotated in unison and in time with the machine as it forms the armor tubing about the cable, the latter being led off from the reel 55 and after being covered is taken up with its armored tubing by the reel 71. o

By operating the frames in which both of the reels are mounted. the reels themselves are provided with a double rotation, one about their own axis and the. other an end over end rotation about the axis of the tubing at the point of forming.

By my improved construction of machine which grooves the strip progressively or gradually by the action of each succeeding pair of rolls, the metal is stretched gradually into the proper shape thereby effectually preventingchipping or rupturing of the fibers of the metal, which is apt to be the case where the strip is bent completely into the finished form by a single operation.

A rapid stretching of the fibers has a tendency to weaken and deteriorate the same.

By my construction a continuous strip may be employed of unlimited length. which is not the case where a reel with a limited length is carried on the winding head which rotates about the point of coiling.

Then again by my improvement all the parts are accessible and the grooving progress of the strip and also the coiling process may be observed at all times by the operator.

It is found in practice necessary to provide means for driving the take-up reel 71 and to also so construct this means that it will compensate for the ever changing diameter of the winding surface of the take-up reel as the finished product is wound thereon. To accomplish this in an extremely simple and effective way, I have provided grooved pulleys 76 and 78 see. Figure 13, over which a friction belt 77 is run to drive the take-up reel at the fastest speed and the belt is permitted to slip and so compensate for the progressively reducing take-up rotating speed of the reel as the different layers of cable are wound thereon. In other words the greater the windthe. cable thereon the less the number of revolutions per minute, which reduction is compensated for by the slipping of the driving belt on its pulleys.

I have also mounted a traversing guide nut 83 on the usual right and left traversing screw S-t for leading and laying the convolutions of the tube side by side on the reel, this traversing screw being driven from the pulley 85 011 the shaft 72 through the belt 86 and pulley 87v on the screw shaft 88.

It is sometimes found in practice in the coiling of very stiff material advisable to provide an anti-friction surface in the U- shaped portion of the coiling plate 26 which which may be produced by mounting a set of rolls 90 in this plate as illustrated in Figure 12, with their peripheries located so as to take the thrust of the coiling metal and so materially reduce the coiling friction of the metal in the coiling tool.

My improved armor tubing machine is extremely simple in construction and effective in its operation and the expense of production is reduced to the minimum and as the machine requires so little attention from the operator at number may be run by a single attendant.

Then again by employing a head having coiling tools which are universally adjustable they may be regulated or set to form a tubing of any size and of any desired helical pitch without the employment of other or additional parts.

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the construction illustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve the privilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the device is susceptible, the invention being defined and limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for making tubular armor, a fixed strip coiling guide plate, means for grooving a strip of material and feeding it to said guide, the guiding portion of said plate being of a width less than that of the strip to be coiled and having an opening into which the strip is fed endways, the inner edge of said opening being shaped to coil the strip into helical form with its edges interlocking, and means for simultaneously rotating the tube as formed.

2. In a machine for making tubular armor, means for continuously feeding and grooving a strip of metal. a fixed forming guide plate having its guiding portion of a width not greater than that of the strip to be coiled and having a substantially U- shaped end opening into which the grooved strip is fed endways, the upper arm of the U being both curved and offset laterally to impart a helical coiling action to the strip while being forced therethrough and simultaneously causing the adjacent grooved edges of said coiled strip to interlock.

3. In a machine for making tubular armor, rolls -for continuously feeding and grooving a strip of metal, a forming guide into which the grooved strip is fed endways to impart a helical coiling action to the strip While being forced therethrough to produce a continuous tubular coil and simultaneouslycausing the adjacent grooved edges of said coiled strip to interlock, a reel 1 for Winding said cable as formed, a set of 1 strip feed.

6. In a machine for making tubular ar mor,'means for continuously feeding and grooving a strip of metal, a single fixed forming guide plate shaped to engage and helically coil the grooved strip of metal as grooved pulleys, and a friction driving beltded endvvays into it from said forming adapted to slip on said pulleys to c0mpensate for the varying Winding speed of said reel.

4. In a machine for making tubular armor, a plurality of sets of forming rolls for progressively grooving and feeding a strip of material, a fixed guide plate for coiling the strip into helical form with its edges interlocking and means in said former for automatically controlling the feeding action of said rolls.

5. In a machine for making tubular arrolls, an electric circuit, a sliding contact block in said former retained in inoperative position-by the coiling feeding action of said stripin said former, said block being adapted to move forward to close said circuit when released by an improper coiling action of said strip in said former to arrest the operation of said strip feeding means. I

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

s'rEriifiN vv. BOURN. 

